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How to survive working in customer service
If you've ever worked in customer service you know how big of a nightmare it can be. If you're thinking of pursuing a customer service job do yourself a favor and don't. If you still find yourself in a customer service position I have a couple of tips to help you survive your day to day job. Daily Preventatives There isn't much that you can do to avoid cranky customers in your job setting. The sad truth is that they will always be around and will always make your life harder. There are a couple things you can do however to make sure that you're as happy as you can be before clocking in for your shift. 1.) Get a good nights sleep. Sleep is very crucial for a customer service associat e to ensure the best service. Also to ensure you don't end up in prison. 2.) Coffee & breakfast. Even if it's four in the afternoon breakfast and coffee is always a good idea. The caffeine will give you plenty of energy and the breakfast is delicious and nutritious. 3.) Give yourself plenty of time to get ready. If you are rushed then you'll be stressed out, that's common knowledge. Set thirty alarms if you have to but always give yourself time. 4.) Do one thing you enjoy before going in. Even if this one thing is just watering your plants, or playing with your cat before you go in. Do that activity that way you're in a good mood when you go in and that way you have something to think about during your miserable shift. On the Job Relaxation What happens if you do all the daily preventatives and a customer still manages to get on your last nerve? There are a couple of things that you can do in order to calm back down after a customer rips your heart out. Depending on the type of customer service job you're in these areas may vary. 1. Pull one of your coworkers aside and vent about the situation. Sometimes talking about that rude person to a coworker who goes through the same thing every day can be very helpful. Talking things out is one of the best types of therapy. 2.) Go into the walk-in. If you work in the food service your restaurant should have some kind of freezer or fridge that you can walk into. What I found most helpful when I was working in a restaurant was going into the walk-in and taking deep breaths, the cold air was relaxing for me. 3.) Punch something. Go somewhere nobody can see you and start hitting stuff. Obviously not expensive things or your store's items that your selling (then you'll be jobless.) Things like t-shirts, boxes of lettuce, or a stack of copy paper, whatever it is punching it can help soothe your anger. 4.) Deep breathing. Going to the back and taking a good deep breath in and just pausing for a second can really help you gather your thoughts and calm back down. How to Respond to Difficult Customers Even if you haven't worked in customer service before you know a difficult customer when you see one. It's the person throwing a fit over the slightest inconvenience or demanding their money back for a product they have no receipt for, the ones that make everybody uncomfortable. Below I've created a list of responses to a couple of different types of situations/ questions. Customer: "I want to speak to a manager!" You: '''"I am the manager." '''Customer: '''I want you fired!" '''You: "Sure here's corporates number." Customer: "'''I want my money back!" '''You: "Unfortunately I can only offer you store credit." Even if these responses deem not to be true, they will still get the customer off your back. Daily Reminders #Remember at the end of your shift you get to go home to your cat. #Don't give that one customer the power to ruin your whole day. #Your coworkers all feel the exact same way. #You can't quit because you have bills to pay. #You get to do this all over again tomorrow. How to make it a little better If you can't seem to find another job or maybe you want to stay in customer service and just want to ease the pain a little bit. *Look for advancement opportunities *Ask for a raise *Adopt seven cats *Get a bachelors or masters degree *Order a pizza *Quit *Go to a wine tasting *Speak to your managers about your concerns *Hug a pug Bad to worse customer service jobs Here I'm going to provide for you a list of the bad customer service jobs (meaning barely manageable) to the worst customer service jobs (just don't.) #Retail serv ice #Customer associate #Foodservice #Customer service rep Job descriptions In this category, I will take the list above and give you a job description and some minor details about each one so you know exactly what you're getting yourself into. Retail service- the process of selling consumer goods to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Is the store you love to shop at looking for some part-time help? Maybe Target is hiring? Yeah, as sweet as it sounds, DONT DO IT. Customers are so rude to retail workers, they talk to you like you're some kind of machine not to mention they will call and complain to your manager for anything, even things out of your control. If you want a calm, relaxing workspace steer clear of retail. Customer associate- interact with customers to handle complaints, process orders, and provide information about an organization’s products and services. Customer associates are the ones you call when you have an issue with a product or the company. You know, the ones that you yell at when you're frustrated. These poor people sit in an office on a phone and get screamed at all day then go home to their empty apartment and cat who doesn't love them. This job is horrible! and they try to mask it with above minimum wage pay, don't fall for it!